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[dspencer]

Heyo

So, I'm working on a metroidvania. Issue being, I don't have a solid idea of the setting/plot, and I'm unsure what ideas I have to explore more. So I guess I was wondering if people had any advice for making the setting for a game? I want it to be serious, but also something new.

Ideas -
1) Typical "you are abandoned in space, far away." Perhaps there are a number of planets you can go between, eventually
2) You are a scientist working on a top secret project, and get stuck in the laboratory. You need to figure out how to escape, and in the meantime figure out what was going on in the library.
3) You are a dwarf/miner or something like that. You (surprise surprise) get stuck in the mine (or maybe not?) but anyway you mine down and you find a giant machine that is lodged deep underground. Machine on the scale of the machinery in La Mulana - this is the environment. (I have ideas about where this story could go, at least)
4) You are a diver, looking for either some generic lost treasure of a specfic lost treasure at the bottom of the ocean. Homebase is your ship, which is also the only place you can recharge some of your resources. So not only is exploring important, but finding efficient ways to get to new places.

I want there to be interesting room for back story, in a La Mulana/Metroid Prime sort of way - you read stuff which fills in what has been going on to set things up the way they are. Eventually, if you piece things together, you might be able to take some sort of action to change the way things seem to be going.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

[SundownKid]

How about a "reverse Castlevania"? You are a Dracula-like ruler of the demon castle, but your servants turn on you and you have to escape starting from your throne room at the top while dodging your own precisely-placed traps in order to find out who exactly is manipulating them.

Or, how about a Metroidvania that takes place using a vehicle, Blaster Master-style, where you can board and disembark in order to get past places? Maybe you could be some kind of future miner (space miner?) who has to save his fellow men from a cave-in. Or, it could be a mech trying to infiltrate an enemy base.

[Tiderion]

Let me stop you from thinking more about the setting.

First, tell us what game mechanics you are interested in using. That information will narrow down what settings and stories are possible.

Remember that many weapons properties can be easily translated to different settings. Castlevania and Metroid both use whips for instance. Flight is not entirely possible if you are playing Pitfall.

[eclectocrat]

I guess you're looking for something moody and sort of serious. Otherwise I have a great idea of being stuck in a highschool for detention and trying to get past all the locked doors, hall monitors, stairwells, cliquy bullies, etc...

I say, first define the mood you are going for in precise terms, then see if you can find a setting to express that mood.

[Kurai]

I guess you're looking for something moody and sort of serious. Otherwise I have a great idea of being stuck in a highschool for detention and trying to get past all the locked doors, hall monitors, stairwells, cliquy bullies, etc...

I say, first define the mood you are going for in precise terms, then see if you can find a setting to express that mood.

Looks more like a sneak'em up than a Metroidvania to me.

But it's right, you should think about mechanics you want in your game before the setting. Me, I will go with something about an archaeologist discovering an ancient egyptian/mayan/babilonian/whatever tomb, and gaining god-like but consuming and devastating powers in the process, ultimately facing the risen demigod itself. Just the very first idea I got (I love the concept of power-ups consuming you in some ways, i.e. acting like drugs)

[battlerager]

A hero and his comet-shard-infused helmet trying to gather the remains of the destroyed star that the shard is from. It was blown up by the big bad because of the amazing attributes of the material mined only there, but the planet is actually sentient and the player tries to collect enough parts to bring about the reconstruction process. Get to new areas using the equipment the evil guys made from the mysterious material. These artifacts double as progress in your quest.

[Player 3]

A knight embarks on some sort of quest to rescue the princess, collects a bunch of tools/powers along the way, and eventually has to defeat the big bad guy, whether it be an enemy's king, a dragon, or some huge, jumping, fire-breathing tutrle. A big, blue pig also works.

Wait, sounds more like a Zelda II-like.

[dspencer]

I guess I've been looking at it from the opposite perspective. For me, the goal of this is to make a game in the following formula - get items, items give you access to more places in interesting ways (that is, no boring items like bombs in zelda, or the red key), explore(*) - without a huge focus, at least at this point, on what those powerups *are*. In fact, one of the reasons I want to iron out a setting is so that it will inform my powerup creation/level design. My biggest concern about setting is telling a meaningful story; rather than just telling "You go into a cave. there was a master race here, but they got wiped out. Ooh look, treasure!" I want the story to have more impact. This is really guiding my thoughts on mood - I want to make something which will seem silly only insofar as its a game about digging to the center of the earth and fighting monsters, but within that context does not. As opposed to say... earthbound. haha.

Also I really appreciate the input, guys. These are all ideas for games that I would want to play.
Another one I've been tossing around is dude loses his girlfriend to death. thus, decides to go back to hell to get her soul back. Find remains of old demon hunters along the way to get their powers, and defeat devils of different sorts to get THEIR power (but, sorta like  Kurai's example, the power corrupts you a little bit, stopping you from using certain hunters abilities or going to certain holy places etc.).
(Actually, this idea is growing on me...)

I guess to clarify my first post - I don't really have trouble *thinking* of ideas for setting. My issue is that before I spend a long time creating something, I want to make sure I'm doing something new, and that people aren't going to hear about it and say "Oh, another game just like metroid (if in space) / Castlevania (going to hell) / La Mulana (dude explores extensive trap filled ruins and otherwise is indiana jones). It doesn't help that I'm being heavily inspired by La Mulana in some of my design decisions...

I could just combine everything/some of what I've got.

*I've been thinking more about meta mechanics - for instances, I want to acknowledge sequence breaking in a major way. So like, if you can get to the last boss without breaking the 8 seals (or insert other generic plot coupon here) you might be able to get a different ending. Also, I want to reward players for paying attention to the backstory, and make a path through the game which is only achievable if you follow clues in the story. I like the idea of powerups which are *strictly* unnecessary: in metroid, on your first time through, you probably need the animals to teach you the wall jump, but on later plays you don't need to go there because you can do it from the start of the game.  Lastly, I'm interested in choice powerups - you can either have the stomping boots or the viking helmet, but not both.

[battlerager]

"Going to hell" seems kinda overdone in games as a whole, but not really in a Metroidvania. The main thing about "well this is in space so its like Metroid" can be "fixed" by sense of style or presentation.

For example, the setting I mentioned could either be done super sci-fi-ish and similar to metroid.

But if you give the destroyed planet a hivemind of sorts that gets more present with more pieces collected, you can use that as the "Navi" of sorts, the voice that guides the player and comments on the action. Locations of boss rooms or secrets are "the voices of the fragments calling out" instead of radar locations. Suddenly, it is less sci fi and more ... uh... I dunno, spiritual? hah.

Make the main character a thief that stole from a cargo of the evil guys and happened to stumble over the purest piece of the material they were transporting, add a slightly space-western feel, make the game area a planet built to specifications by the big bad, maybe it's shards of the old world that you can travel between, maybe make the game a bit whimsical (by giving that main shard a face of sorts?).

There's so much you can do with any setting to make it fresh.



Same goes for your hell idea. If you just use "normal" monsters and the like, you could end up getting very close to castlevania territory. But make different parts of hell based on different visions of how hell looks as found in different religions and cultures, have the demon hunters that died there come to hell in wildly different time periods (resulting in a varied mix of items / powers), have other demon hunters come for you when you are relying a lot on demon powers....

Just try to brainstorm ideas for a setting and see how much stuff you can come up with 



Also, I like the "acknowledging sequence breaking" part. I can imagine that to be very difficult though, because it means you design the game with ways to break it in mind, while you probably can`t be sure just in WHICH ways people will break your game. Probably needs heavy, heavy playtesting by lots of people to pull off.


Best of luck

[Destral]

How about something inspired by "In the mountains of madness"? You arrive at a small, isolated mining town after being sent there to investigate the reasons for the sudden lack of ore shipments or whatever. You find your way into a mine, there is a cave-in, and the only way to go is deeper into the mine. As you go you start finding traces of non-human presence, obtaining pieces of alien techno-magic which allow you to progress further, and eventually you make it to the heart of the mystery and the reasons why the aliens/cthulhu horrors are on our planet.

[Tiderion]

No setting you make will be original. Given that the game mechanics seem to be related to the player objective, I have to ask: what is the goal for the player? What beats the game?

Personally, I'd avoid hell and it's allegories as well. It can be done and done well but going into hell to get the girl out is actually already overdone. It's an escort mission in disguise. But if you like the scenario, strip it of the details you have already given it:

Girlfriend of hero is stolen by bad person to remote and dangerous place. Hero goes in after her.

Again, this is pretty standard. In this form, you could say it's the plot of Super Mario. Change the place to hell and it's Dante's Inferno. Change the place again to Hyrule and you've got Legend of Zelda.

Another generic scenario:

Hero goes to a dangerous place to stop bad person.

If the place is Outer Haven, then you are playing Metal Gear. If it's Transylvania, then you're playing Castlevania. Planet Zebes would make it Metroid.


I played a sidescroller recently on Armor Games wherein you are attempting to collect abilities in order to make it back home. Along the way you are encouraged to collect orbs. The number of orbs you collect changes the outcome. The orbs are needed by the generic narrator to help you get back home. Of course, with enough other abilities, there is another way of getting home. If you choose to collect the orbs you will inevitably release an evil deity, the narrator, from it's prison. So you get to go back home but then you have released someone unstoppable who then destroys your home. Plot twist extraordinaire.

[dspencer]

I guess I was thinking of setting as a starting place for story. That is, the setting sort of implies the gist of the story; from there it is much easier to flesh out. So, I've been thinking about the going to hell story - in that case, I was thinking of that basic plot or something equally generic, but on the way you find (and get abilities from) fallen demon hunters. However, demons also give you abilities, if you choose to take them, both of which end up causing conflict. Based on how you choose to take those abilities, and weather you choose to act on the danger they were aiming to fight against, you get different endings and maybe some bonus areas.

[battlerager]

I guess I was thinking of setting as a starting place for story. That is, the setting sort of implies the gist of the story; from there it is much easier to flesh out. So, I've been thinking about the going to hell story - in that case, I was thinking of that basic plot or something equally generic, but on the way you find (and get abilities from) fallen demon hunters. However, demons also give you abilities, if you choose to take them, both of which end up causing conflict. Based on how you choose to take those abilities, and weather you choose to act on the danger they were aiming to fight against, you get different endings and maybe some bonus areas.

This sounds very modern-gaming "binary morality", which isn't necessarily bad. Just make sure to give something to the people who keep it balanced out, too 

[Tiderion]

I guess I was thinking of setting as a starting place for story. That is, the setting sort of implies the gist of the story; from there it is much easier to flesh out. So, I've been thinking about the going to hell story - in that case, I was thinking of that basic plot or something equally generic, but on the way you find (and get abilities from) fallen demon hunters. However, demons also give you abilities, if you choose to take them, both of which end up causing conflict. Based on how you choose to take those abilities, and weather you choose to act on the danger they were aiming to fight against, you get different endings and maybe some bonus areas.

Is the player aware of the change to their morality by taking one item over another?

Example: a player can take a demon sword or a demon hunter shield. The sword increases the power variable but decreases the morality variable. The shield is the inverse.

If playing Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect, the player has an idea of how good or bad they are.

[dspencer]

Yeah. I mean my plan is only to have things for fringe cases - normally, If you have some middle of the road path, you play the game with a good combination of abilities. Maybe the last hunter says he won't give you his powers because of the demonic taint, but more or less you play the game and get the normal ending. If you decided to fill the hunters wishes, though, you'll get a bad ending if you have used demonic power. Basically, the most significant situations will be secrets obtainable by abstaining from certain powerups. less focus on a "morality" meter, but more focus on "You absorbed the power of the great ghost? you are worse than satan himself. OUT FIEND"

Basically, it won't be spelled out from the start, but there will be specific, obvious actions which change your morality. On the first time through, the player will probably be oblivious of this to start, but if you play again then you can take it into account from the start of the game.

[Richard Kain]

Looks more like a sneak'em up than a Metroidvania to me.

Whoa! Hold up there! Am I the only one seeing this?

A "Sneak-Em-Up" with Metroidvania side-scrolling play mechanics and non-linear exploration? Where most of the mechanics focused on distracting enemies and circumventing danger rather than confronting it? That sounds like a fantastic idea! You could have a mechanic where whenever you press "up" in front of a well, you hug the wall and adopt some of its visual properties, to hide yourself from enemies.

[SundownKid]

After posting yesterday I had a similar idea for a sneak 'em up Metroidvania, where you are an escaped convict who must break out of a prison by sneaking past the guards and sabotaging stuff.

I think most settings for these type of games tend to be fantasy/sci-fi, so it would be cool if your abilities were not superhuman, for example, you get a grappling hook or a knife, and you have to sneak around or people will overpower you.

[Lynx]

You could take it a different direction too - say, set in Renaissance Paris where you're a haughty noble who would never dream of descending into the places where poor people live - their poorness might rub off on you!  As your ships are lost at sea and your warehouse burns down, you realize someone's plotting your ruin.  You set out to unmask this conspiracy, and gradually acquire contacts and disguises that allow you to access areas you wouldn't have gone before, and blend in without being instantly detected as a noble and held for ransom or killed by thugs and hoodlums.

Gameplay-wise, you'd be traveling left and right in front of various houses, you could go down streets to reach other parts of the city, eventually you unlock the map so you can travel quickly, and you can only change to a new disguise when there's no one around to notice, like in darkened alleys.  Each disguise sets different factions as hostile, neutral (but blocking your path), or friendly.  In addition you could unlock physical abilities -- as a noble you can't even run, but you can get in carriages to take you to noble-friendly destinations.  As a bandit, you could run and jump, but you wouldn't have any luck even getting near carriage stops.

[Landshark RAWR]

At one point you could become really powerful or at least have a way of easily killing enemies, while mowing down your foes you encounter a new enemy that is basically immune to this ability. and you now know they know you're around so sneaking becomes harder with the increased security


that would be a fun way to get a new weapon, ability or upgrade halfway through

[Ben_Hurr]

You could take it a different direction too - say, set in Renaissance Paris where you're a haughty noble who would never dream of descending into the places where poor people live - their poorness might rub off on you!  As your ships are lost at sea and your warehouse burns down, you realize someone's plotting your ruin.  You set out to unmask this conspiracy, and gradually acquire contacts and disguises that allow you to access areas you wouldn't have gone before, and blend in without being instantly detected as a noble and held for ransom or killed by thugs and hoodlums.

Gameplay-wise, you'd be traveling left and right in front of various houses, you could go down streets to reach other parts of the city, eventually you unlock the map so you can travel quickly, and you can only change to a new disguise when there's no one around to notice, like in darkened alleys.  Each disguise sets different factions as hostile, neutral (but blocking your path), or friendly.  In addition you could unlock physical abilities -- as a noble you can't even run, but you can get in carriages to take you to noble-friendly destinations.  As a bandit, you could run and jump, but you wouldn't have any luck even getting near carriage stops.

I can't say I've heard of that before...
Regardless, that'd actually be really awesome if someone made your idea!